Milan

Our full day in Milan started with a parkrun at Milano Nord. 

As usual, we arrived quite early, took a few photos and listened to the cheerful visitors briefing.

Standing very near to me was the dog in my photo who for the whole briefing was held in the arms of his lady owner. 

She then carried him right to the front row of the start line and put him on the ground. There were well over 200 people behind them and I thought that it was going to end badly.

However, at the word go Darren (who did a great time by the way), said that they shot off at great speed and they disappeared into the distance still at the front.

After the parkrun we had a well deserved rest and then set out to explore Milan.

We caught the Metro to the centre and up the stairs to a fantastic scene in the Piazza Castello.

Through the gates following some very stylish people into a courtyard.

A quick ice cream and then on to the Porta Sempione.

After that it became a blur of grand buildings and some very nice antique trams.

Eventually we reached a huge and ornate covered shopping centre. Everyone around us had made such an effort with their outfits and was promenading around with their friends.

We walked through the crowds and out the other side to the Duomo.

It is a magical sight and a lot of it has been cleaned so that close up it gleams in pink and grey as well as creamy yellow.

How long did it take to build such an incredible building I wondered. I asked Darren his opinion and he said about 14 years. 

I asked the internet for it's opinion and it said that work started in 1386 and it was completed in 1965, taking 579 years.

However, it was about half finished by 1402 but then they ran out of money for 80 years. 

By around 1500 it was usable but nowhere near finished, then in 1805 Napoleon ordered it to be finished and that France would pay for it.

This moved the work on quite a lot, but it was eventually celebrated on 6 January 1965 as complete.

Turin

 We only had the morning in Turin, so we made the most of it by setting off just after sunrise.

Turin is a major industrial city with very wide multi lane roads in a grid system. That's not too surprising as it was the centre of car production in Italy.

It also has 18 kilometres of porticoes for pedestrians.

They were huge and kept the walkways cool and shaded. They were also used in The Italian Job by Michael Caine to zoom around in a little convoy of Minis.

There are also enormous plazas that were mostly empty first thing in the morning.

And an incredible covered shopping mall 

Finally, and of course, it had to have some Roman ruins. This one is an ancient gate and part of an original Roman road.

The city centre is pedestrianised and it was a lovely walk. We could definitely have stayed longer, and I am sure that we will go back again.

Sanremo to Turin

Our last morning in Turin and we again walked past the statue of Mike Bongiorno.

We had no idea who this very cheerful looking chap was, but there was always a queue of ladies of a certain age waiting to get a photo with him.

Not wanting to miss out, we got the shot and then I looked him up. Apparently he was the best ever Italian chat show host.

Mystery solved.

We also popped into a Russian Orthodox Church with the lovely onion domes on the top.

Inside was very peaceful, and right at the top of the highest dome was a stained glass picture of Jesus looking down on us.

In the afternoon we caught a bus to Turin, and after the excitement and busyness of the last few days we decided on a quiet night in.  Turin will be just have to wait until tomorrow morning.

Sanremo

It was not far on the train to our next destination. We crossed the border on a French train and then had to change to the Trenitalia network for our final 15 minutes journey to Sanremo. 

In the morning we went for a run along a disused railway line that has been converted into a cycle and pedestrian path. It ran past the old train station and then had a Walk of Fame dedicated to the winners of the Milan Sanremo classic. 

It was a bit of a half hearted display, and there was handprints of Matthieu Van Der Pool who won it in 2025, although not many others. Disappointingly, they didn't have the wet concrete ready for Tadej Pogacher who won it this year as there was no sign of his prints. 

The path was a reminder of Bath as it also ran through an almost endless tunnel, except that this one was much bigger and more brightly lit. 

We are in a lovely hotel on the main pedestrianised street of Sanremo, and just off that is the start of the old town. The streets are incredibly steep and narrow and the houses all seem to support each other with flying butresses everywhere. 

In 1887 there was an earthquake and a neighbouring village was completely destroyed. The houses at the top of the hill in Sanremo were also destroyed and I am assuming that  either the butresses saved the lower part of the town, or they were added afterwards to hold the town up. 

It was a long climb to the top and there we found a beautiful church and amazing views over the town. 

Then back down to a bar just outside our hotel. 

We didn't order lunch because every time you order a drink at a bar, and we have tried a few, they bring enough tapas to almost make a whole meal. Darren loves it. 

Day out in Monaco

 It was a very short train ride from Menton to Monaco, so we checked out of our hotel, left our suitcases in reception and set off. Monaco is a tiny country, the smallest in the world after the Vatican City, and is only 2.08 square kilometres.

It is also perched on an extremely steep cliff and the train goes through a tunnel deep in the rock. We disembarked and walked a few hundred metres along moving walkways in an immaculate tunnel before suddenly seeing sunlight.

We walked through a doorway and on to a beautiful expensive street with huge fancy high rise buildings. We walked a few metres in surprise, then looked back and the station entrance seemed to have disappeared. There was no station signpost, just an anonymous looking stone doorway that was about the width of a garage. 

We tried to remember what the street looked like to find it again for the journey home and then saw signposts for the Exotic Gardens. We followed them around a corner and to an elevator, where we took the lift to another expensive street. This happened twice more I think, then we walked a little way and arrived.

We have been here before, maybe 15 years ago, and it was as good as I remembered, but last time we didn't visit the caves. These were discovered in 1950 and go nearly all the way down to sea level. 

Back up in the sunshine we sat drinking coffee and admiring the whole of Monaco.

The bay is full of massive super yachts because the annual Yacht Show was held over the weekend and they haven't left yet, or maybe they are just there most of the time. 

We caught a bus back down and tried to see the Casino. Unfortunately we couldn't get near it because they were filming an American film, according to a security guard. He wouldn't tell us what it was, but it's very likely to be Oceans 11 the prequel.

We managed to get round the side and then round the back by the sea for a better angle of the Casino.

Then these are just a few photos that show how every square inch of space is used in this unbelievably built up country.

We were now down by the harbour and walked past a beach with the super yachts bobbing around in the distance.

We carried on walking, and a few minutes later we walked out of Monaco and back into France. To be honest it was a slight relief to get out of the almost Disney like atmosphere of Monaco, and back to a more normal world. 

A few minutes later a bus arrived to take us back to Menton, we picked up our cases and then caught a train to Italy.